A comprehensive and fairly insider-ish article from Airport Business magazine, reporting from the AAAE Summer Legislative Issues Conference. It lays out the issues on the table as Congress prepares to consider reauthorization of key aviation legislation — including security, environmental regulation, and funding — that was drafted under the aegis of the FAA. Interesting to see the following at the very end of the article:
Daniel Elwell, assistant administrator for Aviation Policy, Planning and Environment at FAA, says that transforming the U.S. air traffic control system via NextGen is “the single biggest motivating factor” for the FAA proposal.
“NextGen is the singular goal of FAA,” he says.
Congress, meanwhile, is proposing a $25 per flight fee for instrument flights to pay for NextGen, a proposal that is getting resistance from general aviation groups.
